"ZYGAAARD!"
An overwhelming burst of natural energy erupted from its body, instantly dispersing the black mist!
Whoooosh—
The black mist turned into a violent gale that swept across the battlefield, rapidly floating into the sky and condensing into the form of Yveltal, its gaze fixed straight on the figure below!
"We're saved?" Eva let out a sigh of relief, finally having the chance to carefully examine the sudden newcomer.
Aven's face was also filled with shock as he murmured, "Zygarde… It's actually Zygarde!"
"Zygarde?" Eva asked in confusion.
"Yes. Zygarde is the Guardian of Nature, an ancient Guardian Deity of the Kalos Region!"
"I never imagined that Zygarde was actually sleeping beneath this forest. It must have fallen into slumber due to some kind of influence in the past."
"Lilligant's continuous infusion of natural energy into the ground accidentally awakened the sleeping Zygarde, allowing it to rise from its slumber."
Aven nodded lightly, piecing together Lilligant's sensations and explaining the most likely outcome. Zygarde was a legendary being on par with Xerneas and Yveltal in terms of power!
"ZYYY! GAAAR! DEEE!"
On the battlefield, after emerging, Zygarde raised its head toward the sky and let out furious roars again and again.
Immediately after, it began to gather power, causing the entire ground to tremble violently. Earthly energy surged and condensed before it, transforming into massive boulders.
This was Zygarde's unique divine power of the earth, capable of commanding the strength of the entire land to fight. Even compared to Landorus, the difference in power was vast beyond measure!
BOOM!
The moment the boulders fully formed, they shot straight toward Yveltal in midair.
In the sky, dark matter churned violently as Yveltal also launched an attack.
However, compared to a true super-legendary Pokémon, the Yveltal formed from dark matter was still far weaker. Its attacks were directly crushed by Zygarde!
BOOM!
Another deafening explosion echoed as Yveltal's body was torn apart.
Yet in the blink of an eye, dark matter gathered once more, reforming Yveltal's shape by continuously drawing resentment from the void to replenish itself.
But in the very next moment, Zygarde suddenly activated its divine ground energy, dragging the dark-matter Yveltal down from the sky and restraining it!
Immediately afterward, Yveltal dove straight down from midair toward Zygarde, and the two legendary Pokémon collided, engaging in a fierce close-quarters struggle!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Zygarde was renowned for its devastating close-combat power. How could a Yveltal condensed from dark matter possibly be its match in melee combat?
However, Yveltal was capable of endless regeneration, and this was precisely what made dark matter so difficult to deal with. As long as negative energy existed in the world, dark matter could never be completely destroyed!
Seeing this, Zygarde's body suddenly emitted a brilliant light. Then, its form split in two, transforming into a cobra-like shape.
Its eyes were composed of four green hexagons, resembling the compound eyes of an insect. Behind its head were black, frilled decorations like those of a frilled lizard, adorned with green hexagons. Its tail split into five distinct branches.
This was Zygarde's 50% Forme, composed of half its cells. Zygarde in its complete form was known as the Guardian of Nature, while its 50% Forme was called the Watcher of Nature—still possessing extremely formidable power.
After completing the split, the red-patterned Zygarde let out a low roar toward the group, indicating that it would remain here to handle the battlefield, while the other 50% Forme Zygarde would accompany them to the Tree of Life.
"Then I'll leave this place to you, Zygarde!" Aven nodded, leading his Pokémon and the other Zygarde as they rushed toward the direction of the Tree of Life.
At this moment, the Tree of Life was rapidly withering. They had to race against time and stop dark matter from continuing to erode it, or everything would truly be too late!
Before the Tree of Life, the Demon God Hoopa Unbound had completely opened the gate to the void. Thick black mist continuously poured out, fully engulfing the Tree of Life.
At that moment, Hoopa Unbound suddenly turned its head toward the distant battlefield, sensing an immensely powerful force that had just appeared.
"Hm? It still broke free from the seal?" Hoopa Unbound frowned. If it had been given just a little more time, it could have ended everything—but Zygarde had broken free at this critical moment!
Still, gazing at the already opened World of Nothingness, it curled its lips into a grin. To it, this change was of little consequence. It did not believe a mere human could stop it, even if that human wielded the power of the Creator.
Crack—crack!
Shattering sounds continuously echoed from the Tree of Life.
Now standing upon the land, the Tree of Life retained only the faintest trace of vitality, like a fragile leaf in the midst of a raging storm, in danger of being destroyed at any moment.
Moving swiftly, the group soon arrived before a tribe.
Looking down, they could still see petrified houses and buildings. Even after so many years, everything here seemed unchanged.
Mira stood amid the raging wind, staring at the scene below as countless memories flooded her mind, causing her heart to ache unbearably. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
At last, they approached the Tree of Life. From afar, they could see a colossal tree shrouded in black mist, its bare trunk completely devoid of greenery.
Beneath the trunk, endless black aura wrapped everything tightly, making it impossible to see clearly. But Mira knew—her parents and her people were all beneath the Tree of Life, trapped in petrification!
"Finaly found you, Hoopa!" Aven's deep voice suddenly rang out.
A faint golden glow emerged around his body, and energy continued to flow within the Prison Bottle in his hand, guiding his direction.
Soon, they arrived before the Tree of Life and saw Hoopa Unbound floating in midair, as well as the distant gate to the world of the void that had already been opened.
"Kehehe~ You still came after all," Hoopa Unbound let out a low, sinister laugh. "But… everything is already too late!"
It laughed wildly as its figure suddenly rushed toward the void world, vanishing into it in the blink of an eye. "If you want to end everything, then come in—hahaha!"
"That should be where dark matter truly resides," Aven said gravely as he looked at the gate to the void before them.
He scanned everyone around him, took a deep breath, and said, "You all stay here. I'll go in alone."
As soon as he spoke, everyone's expressions changed. Eva immediately shook her head. "No. I'm going in with you!"
"Me too!" said Lady Rona the Lord of Heartglade City.
Mira stared at Aven intently. After a long pause, she said, "I won't leave alone again. If we're going to die, I want to die together with you."
The other Pokémon remained silent, but their actions spoke louder than words. They all stepped in front of Aven—none of them would allow anyone to harm their Trainer unless they were dead!
"Alright, then let's go in together."
"Let's put an end to everything and let the world return to peace."
Aven smiled faintly and led his Pokémon as they plunged into the spatial gate, entering the void.
Within the world of nothingness, stone pillars stretched vertically toward the sky. Massive amounts of black mist continuously gathered and twisted, forming pools of surging shadow.
Upon detecting intruders, these Void Spirits formed from dark matter writhed rapidly, transforming into Pokémon shapes as they launched attacks at the invaders.
"Void Spirits… these are all minions of dark matter!" Mira said with a solemn expression. Strictly speaking, Void Spirits could already be considered true living beings.
"We push through. We're already here—this time, we must completely destroy dark matter and the Demon God!" Aven lifted his head, gazing toward the endlessly twisting darkness in the distance. That was undoubtedly where dark matter resided.
The Pokémon nodded in unison. The three Forces of Nature flew out directly, unleashing lightning, gales, and earth-shaking power that ravaged the space, rapidly eliminating the surrounding Void Spirits.
Zygarde remained by their side, protecting them as they charged toward the center of the void world. Under such overwhelming power, not a single Void Spirit could stand in their way.
As they passed between the stone pillars, they also saw stone statues standing among them. Black mist continuously poured out from these statues, transforming into Pokémon with tangible forms.
To a large extent, Void Spirits were condensed from the dark side of souls—essentially a part of the soul itself—thus possessing a degree of consciousness. Seeing how powerful their enemies were, many Void Spirits retreated back into the statues.
Just as they were about to reach the core of the Void World, a statue of the Demon God Hoopa Unbound appeared. From it, a mass of Void Spirit suddenly emerged, transforming into Hoopa Unbound's form.
Unlike the golden body of the Shiny Hoopa Unbound, this Hoopa Unbound was purple-black in color and held six Golden Rings in its hands, causing the surrounding space to twist violently.
Then, from within the six Golden Rings, six legendary Pokémon emerged—Groudon, Kyogre, Kyurem, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Yveltal, exactly the same as those summoned by the Shiny Hoopa Unbound before!
"These are just illusion of guardian deities and legendary Pokémon. They don't possess the true power of real legends," Mira reminded them. Void Spirits were nothing more than aggregates of the soul's dark side!
At once, the three Forces of Nature and the three Lake Guardians rushed forward. Under the thunderous roar of their power, the six legendary illusions were driven back, allowing everyone to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Every being has a dark side, but it is only a very small part of the soul and holds little power. This showed that the positive side of the soul would always surpass the negative—emptiness would forever remain emptiness!
Dark matter's goal was to turn the entire world into nothingness, but in the face of the real world, how could the dark side ever achieve total victory? As long as even a trace of light existed, it would eventually spark into a blazing flame.
With the combined efforts of the three Forces of Nature, the three Lake Guardians, and Zygarde, all Void Spirits were quickly eliminated, and they finally reached the very center of the Void World.
There, beneath a swirling vortex of darkness, stood a gigantic petrified tree. Above it floated a pitch-black mass like a planet—this was dark matter itself!
Dark matter was born from negative energy nurtured by the accumulation of all negative emotions in the world. By absorbing the life force of living beings and turning them into stone, it continued to grow stronger. As long as negative energy existed in the world, it would keep becoming more powerful. However, positive energy was its natural nemesis—it could continuously erase negative energy and ultimately cause dark matter to return to nothingness.
(End of Chapter)